Next Season

[cangull]

Is it not strange that I am now looking forward to next season! and evenb though at a lower level..

Three seasons ago, I just wanted the Club in the Conference, top of the tree so to speak, and then we achieved it. But to my dismay, I have not enjoyed these last two years, apart from a few games, I have not been thrilled as I have been in our run to the tape, the good years, the passion of our cup runs, Trophy and FA, the closeness of the supporters in those days was super and it is something that I have missed. I am certain that once our present shackles have been unlocked we will start to enjoy our new found place in this beautiful game! Bring back the Yellow away Flyer, I say!!

[The Great Eckscape]

I'm convinced that next year will be one of the greatest in the clubs history! And it's gonna be a great laugh going back to our roots at a lower level and starting the whole adventure all over again!

[Gary Dover]

I have loved our time in the conference very much as we have had some excellent away days that will never be beaten but i really cant wait for next season know matter at what level. Aslong as we have C.I.F.C im happy.

If we have to start from the begining then so be it, bring it on. You only got to look at the Hx boys to see that there is life at the lower levels.

[YELLOW]

It means we get to visit some new grounds and return to a few from the past.

[Ribbit]

Hx?

[yellow angel]

i have enjoyed our time in the conference,but nothing stays the same.

am looking forward to next season.and next time around any success(which there will be) will be based solely on merit,not on one individual.

am just glad to still have "my"club.

[YELLOW]

Quote:

Ribbit said:
Hx?

Short for Hornchurch.

[Ribbit]

Why?

[YELLOW]

No idea. It's an abbreviation they've used for years. I seem to remember a friend telling me the reasons but can't remember now!!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Merv]

Thanks cangull for putting into words all the thoughts that have been going through my mind over the past week. Although I have continued to support Canvey FC in the Conference, the glory days really were in those early days of Ryman. The spirit at Park Lane was fantastic and both players and fans were united in their passion for the club. Alan Brett, Alan Harding, Macca, Ports, Pennyfather, Jonah and later Tilly, Stimo and… far too many more for me to mention.

 

I am one of the lucky one who can say, “I was there!” I was there for Brighton, for Port Vale (home and, better still, away), for Wigan (I managed to find my way to Wigan Pier, but was too pissed to remember it clearly), I am in a BBC long shot at the Northampton game and drowned my sorrows at Turf Moor following defeat at Burnley. What’s more, I wrote about all those games on a website that, to this day, I am extremely proud of.

 

But as the footballers raised the league status of the club, the rest of the CIFC set-up seemed to stay where it was and gradually the whole ethos on the terrace seemed to drift out with the tide. Poor management (sorry, just my opinion), lack of an effective public relations policy (it’s my club, if you don’t like it, f**k off), the lack of alternative (or supplementary) sponsorship and, it must be said, a community that felt it didn’t care if it had a conference football club or not; they all combined to drag us down to our present position.

 

No good looking back; all that has gone, it’s in the past. What we have now is a group of 300-400 die-hard supporters and a load of goodwill. Why not look forward to going back to the glory days of tonking Tilbury 7-1? or thrashing Heybridge 13-1 over two legs? of being ‘just a pub team from Essex’ and scaring the [****!!****] out of league clubs.

 

It’s not all gloom and doom. Just think, to have a season ticket (remember those?), chatting with the players when they drive my taxi or clean my windows, of feeling part of a total club setup and seeing energy and determination on the field… what could be better.

 

As I come to terms with the present situation I get the feeling I am at the beginning of something new, not at the end of something old. Any one care to join me?

[JAY]

canvey fans listen to me for a moment i know its not a good thing droping out of the conference but believe us urchins there is life afterwards just look at us we went bust then started up again but even though we are in the essex senior league life is brilliant going home & away to old & new grounds,speaking to players as they come in & look we have done the double this season & another cup final to look forward to cheaper season tickits & etc. i am comming to your game tommorow to watch u s to good luck & hope my advice helps canvey in the future

 

good luck for the future lads

[Gary Dover]

We are taking it all in mate, you Urchins have shown that there is still life to be had. Hope to renew our rivaly soon.

[Eastside Urchin]

this season has been the nuts in the esl,have loved every minute of it,your club will live on whatever happens and you will all support the team with the same passion,we have kept going with decent crowds averaging about 400 with no away fans apart from romford(100) and barkingside and waltham abbey bringing around 20-30

we have gone up as champions and took around 500 to burnham yesterday for the gbt final,it has probably been the best year supporting hornchurch,we have had our good days in last few years like darlington and tranmere but this has been brilliant for the whole season,once again good luck with whatever happens and if we do end up in the same league next year it will mean a bumper gate for both of us and some much needed revenue

[Ribbit]

I don't know how we're supposed to look forward to next season. Yes, we have had some great times in the lower leagues, but only a few weeks ago we were excited about moving forward (our best season ever!). Our club is now in crisis and we've got to start again. It's not a case of looking forward to local derby's again - it's more a case of we were in the top 22 non-league clubs in the country and now we're going back to obscurity. Back from where we came.

 

We're supposed to be moving forward. League football within three years, ring any bells? Obviously that's not going to happen, but I just can't bring myself to be excited about playing Romford rather than York.

 

It's as if the last 14 years never happened.

[Eastside Urchin]

fair comment and i would of said the same last season but its amazing what a difference a year makes,no one knows where you will be next season but i am sure you will look back this time next year and say "it wasn't that bad after all"

with your fan base and experience of moving from esl to conference that should stand you in good stead wherever you end up

[Ribbit]

Oh yeah, I'm not disputing that. I may feel differently after we hammer Tilbury 10-0 on the first day of the season in front of 600 fans.

[ronin]

Quote:

Ribbit said:
I don't know how we're supposed to look forward to next season. Yes, we have had some great times in the lower leagues, but our club is now in crisis and we've got to start again. It's not a case of looking forward to local derby's again - it's more a case of we were in the top 22 non-league clubs in the country and now we're going back to obscurity. Back from where we came.

We're supposed to be moving forward. League football within three years, ring any bells? Obviously that's not going to happen, but I just can't bring myself to be excited about playing Romford rather than York.

It's as if the last 14 years never happened.

I was of the same opinion when the reality of whats about to happen first sunk in but we`ve got to make the best of it. Keeping the club going and slowly building it back up is going to take a lot of effort but with hard work it can be done.

Will i enjoy watching us play at a lower level? probably not at first but that`s the way it`s got to be for a while.

[Ribbit]

I just had a look at our potential route to the top, if ESL is where we'll start. It takes us through the Southern league rather than the Isthmian, apparantly.

[Matt H]

I can understand how someone who's only been supporting Canvey for the past 4 or 5 seasons can see this as total devastation from winning the Trophy and the FA Cup runs etc. But for me it's a return to the good, fun days at Park Lane with the added bonus of actually feeling like we're really doing something to help our Club.

 

The King era was a bit like a dictatorship in my eyes. One person ruling on everything and making everyone's decisions for them. Now we have the chance to put our valid points across without having ideas and suggestions scoffed at.

 

We will become the community club we were always meant to be, very welcoming to everyone. Every fan who walks through the turnstile will have a sense of purpose, rather than just as a number or statistic.

 

Yes, what Jeff did with his money was brilliant and with it being his money he was entitled to it. However, the on the pitch action far exceeded the off the pitch action and rather than settle in a league for a couple of seasons to adjust the ground and attendances to accomodate we just kept going up and up making more enemies than friends on the way - Money bought us success.

 

Now that money is gone and the dictatorship has turned into a democracy. We have a chance as fans to build our Club up within it's own means and enjoy the potential success and glories that come with it for they will taste all the more sweeter now, knowing it was us that made it possible.

 

For those that were with Canvey back in the Ryman 1/2/ESL days there are many small luxuries we can look forward to again:

 

- One of the best grounds in the League.

- One of the largest fan bases in the League.

- No segregation.

- Outnumbering home fans at away games that are only twenty miles up the road.

- TWO bars that will be open during the game, (Come back CANV all is forgiven!).

- Buying your favourite player a pint.

- Maybe even drinking on the terraces!?

 

Plus we have new options to look forward to now that were never available, (in my time anyway) as mentioned above.

 

This Summer will be very exciting as far as I'm concerned!

[Ribbit]

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited by the prospect of having a say in the running of the club and how we're going to go about building a community club, it's just the rest of it that scares me.

 

By the way, if we dropped to the ESL, how would we play Hornchurch when they've just won the league?